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Abstract

Stratification theory has traditionally focused exclusively on the position of men in the occupational system, either ignoring women completely, or locating them through male heads of families. Recent feminist research has criticised the assumptions underlying this approach, arguing that sex-based inequalities are an inherent feature of the class system, and must therefore be incorporated into class analysis. At a theoretical level feminists have argued that to treat the family as a single unit in which all members belong to the same class position, ignores the existence of sexual inequalities within the fam ily. At an empirical level the increasing numbers of married women entering the workforce undermines the notion of the male head of household. This paper examines some of these issues focusing on the 'Goldthorpe debate' (Sociology, 1983). It also draws on data col lected in Brisbane in 1984 to examine the existence of 'cross-class' families in which husband and wife occupy different class positions. The implications of the existence of cross-class families are dis cussed in relation to class theory.

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Gender and Class Analysis: The Position of Women in the Class Structure

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